Study of A Multiplex PCR Method for the Detection of Foodborne Pathogen

Objective: To develop a multiplex PCR method to detect five food borne pathogenic microorganisms simultaneously.Methods: Primers specific for invA gene of Salmonella spp.,ipaH gene of Shigella spp.,hlyA gene of Listeria monocytogenes,eaeA gene of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and toxR gene of Vibrio parahaemolyticus were designed,and the specificity and sensitivity of the devel-oped method was further verified.Results: A collection of 19 strains was examined,all target strains were detected.In contrast,none of the non-target strains yielded the specific amplification product.The sensitivity of the multiplex PCR system was 5000 CFU/mL for Salmonella cultures,5500 CFU/mL for Shigella cultures,5200 CFU/mL for Listeria monocytogenes cultures,5000 CFU/mL for Es-cherichia coli O157:H7 cultures and 6300 CFU/mL for Vibrio parahaemolyticus cultures.Conclusions: The multiplex PCR method in present study can be applied in practice.